Posted on: Friday, September 17, 2004

Woman's shame? Or is it ours?

By Lee Cataluna
Advertiser Columnist

Tuesday evening at 5, three of the local newscasts led with the story. The next morning, it was in both papers. Yesterday, it was on the front page.

A former local pageant winner had been arrested for selling crystal meth.

You would think it was the state's most powerful politician arrested for murder.

The woman hadn't even been charged yet, and there were quotes from her relatives, people in her neighborhood, teachers who remembered her from high school, all saying it was terrible what became of this woman's life. She was all but convicted in the public consciousness and she hadn't yet made her initial appearance in court.

Why is this story even in the news?

She's not a politician or government employee. She is not responsible for public money or public trust. We didn't vote for her at a ballot box or on "American Idol."

She wasn't a cop or a teacher or a member of the state Legislature.

She wasn't even Miss America or Miss USA or a principal actor on "North Shore."

There have been bigger fish arrested for bigger crimes who never made it to the evening news or the newspaper crime briefs.

So why was this woman singled out for special attention?

If the local media covered every arrest for alleged drug dealing, newspapers would have a daily running total and newscasts would have to drop the weather segment to make time.

I suppose it could be argued that covering this particular arrest serves the public interest in illustrating how ice can affect anyone. This time, it wasn't some nameless lowlife, it was a vaguely familiar — and pretty — face.

By asking questions and questions and more questions about how you go from high heels to leg chains, we're keeping other people from making the same choices, and what's more noble than saving da keiki? Right?

But it's more likely this case picked up the churn of a Category 4 hurricane because of something not very noble at all.

The Germans have a word, schadenfreude, meaning malicious glee or the joy of damage. There is a dark side of the human psyche that loves seeing the pretty girl get in trouble. You would think that in the Land of Aloha and no-talk-stink, we'd reject such unbecoming behavior. But no.

The bottom line is that this woman was living her life as a civilian, not a public figure. She had not spent the five years after her little pageant win chasing the spotlight. There may be a price to pay for stardom, but she was not a star. And, guilty or innocent, she did nothing to deserve this unrestrained public examination of what was, except for one year as a local pageant winner, a private life.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172 or lcataluna@honoluluadvertiser.com.